To date five neighborhood sweeps have been conducted by Shreveport Public Works and Property Standards departments. The results of each are both astounding and disappointing.
 
Here is a recap:
Ingleside   6 tons of debris and 225 discarded tires
Highland   1800 (yes one thousand eight hundred) tons of debris and 35 discarded tires
Queensborough   103 tons of debris and 1085 discarded tires
MLK/Cooper Road   69 tons of debris and 480 discarded tires
 
Cedar Grove   89 tons of debris and 450 discarded tires
 
WOW--that's over 2000 tons  of debris and 2200  discarded tires. How long these neighborhoods will remain "clean", as in free of debris, is an open question.
 
"Debris" is the stuff picked up--trash, tree limbs, old appliances. discarded building materials, tires, dead animals, discarded household items including furniture, junk and you name it.
 
It's LEGAL to put  some items on the curb for bulk collection. It is ILLEGAL to put a long list of items set forth in a Shreveport ordinances. In reality much of what should NOT be placed on street curbs end up there and is picked up by city personnel. Shreveport residents have abused this privilege for free  bulk pick up by the City.
 
Discarding ANY debris on empty lots and public right of ways is ILLEGAL.
 
State law makes it ILLEGAL to dispose of used/old tires unless they are collected for disposal at a solid waste facility in accordance with the regulations of the state Department of Environmental Quality. The tires must be cut, separated or shredded for disposal.
 
Louisiana law requires a waste tire fee to be imposed on each tire sold in the state. This fee is to be remitted to the State for deposit in the Waste Tire Management Fund. These monies are to be  used to supplement the costs of waste fire processors.
 
In reality the consumer pays the waste management fee to the business that sells the tires. Whether or not these monies are timely remitted to the State is an unanswered question. No doubt many small tire repair/tire vendors pocket the money and fail to remit to the state.
And many of these stores have large numbers of old/used tires stored at their business location.
 
There are no easy answers to these challenges. Too many residents dump stuff on empty lots and public rights of way. And too many will put everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink on the curb.
 
As far as tire disposal, it's obvious some tire vendors pay to have the used/old tires they collect disposed of illegally--by dumping them on empty lots. Seemingly more enforcement of those businesses that sell tires by state officials would identify vendors who dispose of tires illegally. Additionally, these efforts would result in more funds paid into the Waste Management Fee.
 
It's costly for the City of Shreveport to install cameras in known "tire dump areas." Some of these proactive efforts have resulted in police citations. However, there are too many areas where tires are dumped, and it is impossible to monitor all possible places where ties can be dumped.
 
Needless to say, the collection of debris, including old/used tires, is very costly to the City. This is a function of the government to collect some disposed items.  Changing city ordinances and patterns of citizen behavior is much easier said than done. In the meantime, all Shreveport citizens pay for the costs of collection in sales taxes and property ad valorem taxes.